Yasas Sri Wickramasinghe
About
Yasas Sri Wickramasinghe (He/Him) is a doctoral candidate in augmented reality (AR) and a curriculum developer and tutor at Yoobee College of Creative Innovation in New Zealand. He is a passionate technologist, educator, speaker, and startup co-founder focused on emerging technologies like virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. Yasas has been professionally ranked by academic institutions as a specialist in human-computer interaction, software engineering, and cutting-edge visualization technologies. His extensive industry experience spans software engineering roles, technology startups, lecturing at top universities, and developing educational curricula.
Yasas is currently in the final year of his PhD (Doctor of Philosophy in Augmented Reality, University of Canterbury, New Zealand) and holds a BSc Hons (Bachelor of Science with Honours in Information Technology, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka). His research examines location-based augmented reality technology connecting remote spaces and people. The methodologies applied in his research combine human-computer interaction principles, software development, and empirical studies. His studies have further explored novel interaction techniques and AR content authoring frameworks. The work builds upon his software engineering expertise from industries like 99X Technology and startups like NavitaZ VR Labs that developed AR/VR applications.
As a Curriculum Developer and Tutor, Yasas is passionate about inspiring the next generation of technologists and creatives in New Zealand. His role involves creating curricula that integrate emerging technologies and providing hands-on instruction to students. He has also held lecturer positions at the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, where he taught courses like Enterprise Software Development and Database Management Systems.
With extensive experience as a tech speaker, Yasas has delivered talks on VR/AR at numerous conferences and events such as New Zealand Game Developers Conference (NZGDC) since 2017. He has been recognized with honors, such as the Microsoft Imagine Cup Runner-Up for a VR project, and he has been a winner at various hackathons. Yasas exemplifies combining academic research with practical industry applications to push the boundaries of immersive technologies for education and training.
Research Outputs
Publications
Wickramasinghe, W.A.U.Y.S., De Saram, P.S.R.S., Liyanage, C.P., Rangika, L.N.R., Ranathunga, L. (2017). Virtual reality markup framework for generating interactive indoor environment. _2017 IEEE 3rd International Conference on Engineering Technologies and Social Sciences (ICETSS)_, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICETSS.2017.8324149
Wickramasinghe, W.A.U.Y.S., De Saram, P.S.R.S., Liyanage, C.P., Rangika, L.N.R. (2022). Generating Dynamic Indoor Environments with Virtual Reality Markups. _Journal of Software Engineering & Software Testing, 6_(3), 34-75. MANTECH PUBLICATIONS PVT LTD.
Ritter, M., Lukosch, S., Liew, K., Wickramasinghe, Y. (2024). Trust and trustworthiness while exchanging virtual items in shared augmented reality. HIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury.Ritter, M., Lukosch, S., Liew, K. and Wickramasinghe, Y. (2024) Trust and trustworthiness while exchanging virtual items in shared augmented reality. HIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury.
Wickramasinghe, W.A.U.Y.S., Gunasekara, H.D.A. (2015). A Mobile Application with Augmented Reality to Enhance Sinhala Learning Experience for Children.
Inparajah, J., Wickramasinghe, W.A.U.Y.S. (2022). A Review on Reimagining Medical Education with Virtual Reality in Emerging Medical Disciplines. _15TH INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH CONFERENCE, 36_.
Wickramasinghe, Y.S., Lukosch, S., Lukosch, H. (2023). Designing Immersive Multiplayer Location-Based Augmented Reality Games with Remotely Shared Spaces. _Proceedings of the 54th Conference of the International Simulation and Gaming Association_, 204-214.
Awards & Certificates
Certified in 3D Interaction Design in Virtual Reality by University of London and Goldsmiths
Mora Hackathon 2015 Winner
Future Leaders Outbound Leadership Training Program
Specialization in Virtual Reality by University of London
Digital Marketing Fundamentals Certified by Google
Hackanix Code Ultimate Hackathon 2015 Championship Trophy
Microsoft Imagine Cup National Finals 2015 Runner-Up (Virtual Reality Project)
IESL YMS Hackathon 2014 1st Runner-Up
Finalist at IEEE Code-A-Thon SSAsia12
Google Translation Run 2014 Island 1st for Contributions
